Many years ago, as they say, I had just returned from a long trip and parked the car in front
of the home of some friends, when the double piano concerto started to play on the radio.
I was mesmerized and remained seated. THIS was Ralph Vaughan Williams with such a pounding
and percussive use of TWO pianos????? Later I learned the audience of the late 30s was just
as surprised. Then it slid into this sublime Romanza that was so relentlessly beautiful…
and the beauty continued (my toe nails began to curl). I exhausted possibly 3 LPS of this….
and waited many years for it to show up on CD. Only this performance would do.
It is always a mistake to offer a variety in all things because inevitably something
will resonate differently with a different person. I leaned this started as a concerto for
a single piano and premiered with the infamous Harriet Cohen (Arnold Bax wrote
much music for Harriet when he wasn’t rolling her around in bed). It proved a challenging piece
(no puns) since Harriet was not that great a pianist- so it was arranged for two pianos
and I adore this version and especially this recording.
If you are worthy, can show polite enthusiasm with a please and thank you,
I would be happy to send the FLAC link. I would also be thrilled if you reported
back in this thread what you think of this music. And send chocolates. Keep your
responses in THE THREAD, not PM. Don’t make Phideas cross when he is offering you
great beauty.
As for Job, a Masque for Dancing… it’s okay.
Link sent. Chocolates expected.
*****
Link received and reputation added. Thanks again. 🙂
***
Link received. Thank you very much.
Links sent, expecting to trip over chocolate at the door very soon.
It seemed that Vaughan Williams was slow to make it from LP to CDs, way back in the dark ages of those first CD players. But soon the wonderful EMI/ Adrian Boult recordings started to pop up. But this concerto lagged. I was waiting.
So imagine how thrilled I was when it finally appeared in 1999.
In the meantime I purchased another recording of the work that was ‘digital’ (big deal) but tepid and lacked the enthusiasm and LOVE for the work…. you can always tell when a performance is paint-by-the-numbers and the orchestra or conductor lack feeling for the emotional heart.
That heart is HERE in this recording, from the bombastic, eye popping opening right to the heart aching slow movement that runs its delicate fingers up and down your spine with knee-clenching delight.
I am always thankful that England invented Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gerald Finzi. They made the world a better place, infusing it with their singular beauty.
Links sent….
Thanks in advance.
May I ask you for the links to this collection of works by Vaughan Williams
Many thanks in advance 😉
All the best!
I actually had this version back in the 60s but lost track of it. Since then I’ve had a number of versions but have never been entirely happy with any of them. Sometimes you hear a recording and think, "That’s it–that’s what the composer meant" and nothing else quite suits. I’d thought this version long out of print so was delighted to see it here, and especially to hear that the analogue sound gives so little up to later digital versions. In fact it’s preferable, being more forgiving in the louder passages.
I’m always puzzled as to why this work has so few supporters. I consider it one of VW’s masterpieces. Criticism often centers on VW as a non-pianist not writing well for the piano, but I find the interplay of soloist(s) and orchestra masterful, and the lack of a cadenza more than welcome, as I’ve never liked the damn things. The 1st movement is stirring enough to warm the coldest blood, the slow movement as lanquorously introspective as any VW wrote, and when the theme returns at the end, almost as an echo of itself, I never fail to get that heart swelling ‘Thomas Tallis’ feeling, if that makes any sense.
I have a question, Phideas. When you somewhat dismissingly said that the Job was "okay", did you mean as a work or just that version, as I consider Job to be another of VW’s masterpieces, and this version again is about the best I’ve heard. Not challenging your opinion, just wanting to clarify it.
Personally, I think JOB is one of RVW’s most sublime works. However, given that most of the 50 or so minutes are both low-key and low-volume, it can be a test of patience on the listener if you listen to the piece in its entirety.
I actually had this version back in the 60s but lost track of it. Since then I’ve had a number of versions but have never been entirely happy with any of them. Sometimes you hear a recording and think, "That’s it–that’s what the composer meant" and nothing else quite suits. I’d thought this version long out of print so was delighted to see it here, and especially to hear that the analogue sound gives so little up to later digital versions. In fact it’s preferable, being more forgiving in the louder passages.
I’m always puzzled as to why this work has so few supporters. I consider it one of VW’s masterpieces. Criticism often centers on VW as a non-pianist not writing well for the piano, but I find the interplay of soloist(s) and orchestra masterful, and the lack of a cadenza more than welcome, as I’ve never liked the damn things. The 1st movement is stirring enough to warm the coldest blood, the slow movement as lanquorously introspective as any VW wrote, and when the theme returns at the end, almost as an echo of itself, I never fail to get that heart swelling ‘Thomas Tallis’ feeling, if that makes any sense.
I have a question, Phideas. When you somewhat dismissingly said that the Job was "okay", did you mean as a work or just that version, as I consider Job to be another of VW’s masterpieces, and this version again is about the best I’ve heard. Not challenging your opinion, just wanting to clarify it.
First, I wish more folks would respond to the music that is posted here in such a fashion. It is disappointing to offer something into a void with no response. I had the lp of this recording in the 70s (I don’t believe it was paired with Job at that time). And as you mention, there are times when you hear something for the first time, THAT recording becomes the one you will love best- with some exceptions (Christopher Warren Green’s Lark Ascending is unlike any recording I have ever heard… and Jean Martinon’s Ravel Cycle of orchestral works remains stunning, especially his take on Bolero). Wimpel offered a disc of RVWs piano work that I did not know existed and I have been enchanted by it. I heard one recording of the double piano recorded digitally and there was no spark. Then I hear the single piano version and it lacked power and passion. So this OLD analogue recording is where the magic happened. I think that RVW is guilty of many very moving masterpieces. I just have never connected with Job as one of those and have seldom ever listened to it. For those who have and found it wonderful, I envy them. But THIS double piano recording has all the components you listed. It is deeply moving and sublime.
Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gerald Finzi
Funny thing, wimpel, you could also argue that it’s low key, rather restful nature makes it easy to sit through (and even if you should tend to nod off, there are the occasional eruptions to wake you up again). I’ve certainly never had any trouble doing so. Now if you asked me to sit through a George Antheil symphony, that might be a different matter. 🙂
much appriated
cheers
Thanks.
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